RECAP: On-track running began for the day with the co-driver only Practice 4. Alex Premat and Tony D’Alberto started the session on wet tyres in damp conditions, however the rain stopped and a dry line began to appear mid-session. Both cars switched to slicks, as times dropped under 2m10s for the first time this weekend. The session was shortened by a red flag with three minutes remaining. The track again declared wet for Practice 5, the final practice session before qualifying. Due to the conditions, Car No. 12 spent much of the session in the garage. Fabian Coulthard went out in the last 10 minutes of the session, setting the ninth fastest time of the session. He aborted his final flying lap after running wide at turn one. Scott McLaughlin ran a total of seven laps in a muted session, also due to the wet weather. He was eighth fastest. The 40-minute qualifying session this afternoon was the first time the cars had seen full-dry running this weekend. Each driver took four outings, with McLaughlin setting the third fastest time of the session to book a place in tomorrow’s Top 10 Shootout. Coulthard set the 15th fastest time which is where he and Tony D’Alberto will start Sunday’s Bathurst 1000. Practice 6 is up at 10:00am local time tomorrow, before the Top 10 Shootout in the afternoon.

COULTHARD QUOTE: “It was another interesting day at Bathurst, with the weather changing across each session. Qualifying was the first dry running we’d had for the weekend, so we had to push hard from the outset. We had a little vibration in the car during qualifying, so we’ll have to look at that overnight. Disappointing to not make the shootout, but Sunday is pay day and we’ve seen over many years that you can win this race from anywhere on the grid.”

MCLAUGHLIN QUOTE: “That was a lot harder than last year, because we’ve rolled out and had to smash it out in one session. My hands are sore from having to hold onto the steering wheel so tightly. It’s a credit to the engineers, trusting in the set-up that we had last year and putting it back it. It’s really good, and we’ve booked our place in the Top 10 Shootout tomorrow.”

D’ALBERTO QUOTE: “It was a strange session this morning, starting wet and then drying. I had to be pretty cautious out there. We put slicks on at the end, had a bit of a feel of the car in the dry and that was about as far as it went. Hopefully tomorrow can be a little bit more straightforward and we can do some more dry running before the race.”

PREMAT QUOTE: “It was a pretty good day. To be in the top three for the Top 10 Shootout tomorrow is always good. The practice sessions were good again, we continued to work on the car, and it is very comfortable and very nice to drive. We are going through our processes, we’ll keep working and it will be good.”